The Perils of Un-Coordinated Healthcare : A Strategic Approach toward Eliminating Preventable Harm

This book fills the need for exposing how preventable harm is a system-wide problem and provides a step-by-step model to apply for raising process improvement to a strategic level. The approach is ideal for team training purposes: the first chapter is a patient’s case study followed by discussion questions in the second chapter; the third chapter focuses on workforce conditions; the fourth chapter is about leading change; the fifth chapter unveils a 10-step model in process improvement strategy deployment that begins with application in practice at a Wisconsin hospital; and the sixth chapter gives instruction on how to apply the 10-step model using the case study from the first section.

Despite its frequency and its potential severity, preventable medical harm is still prominent in American hospitals and continues to put an alarming amount of lives at risk, being the third leading cause of death in the United States. Even some of the most commonly performed surgeries, such as knee and hip replacements, are resulting in a rapidly increasing rate of surgical site infections.

Patricia Morrill’s book is specifically written for the healthcare industry. It fills the need for exposing how preventable harm is a systemwide problem and provides a step-by-step model to apply for raising process improvement to a strategic level. The approach is ideal for team training purposes. The Perils of Un-Coordinated Healthcare gives the reader both a personal and professional view of the impact of preventable medical harm, using case studies and observations on preventable deaths and healthcare practice alongside recommended research topics and resources. By looking at the work of both healthcare workers and their managing executives, this instructional text gives methods to assess workforces and self-assess the performances of managers. The book equips readers with a 360 view: patients, families, physicians, workforce, leaders and culture.

Morrill’s ten-step model of Process Improvement Strategy Deployment integrates Lean and Project Management methodologies for developing a problem-solving culture and initiating process improvement at a strategic level. It is essential reading for those in the healthcare industry.